In this first post of the series I shall focus on Messiaen’s Mode III. Its formula is as follows:
1 2 b3 3 #4 5 b6 b7 7
And in C it is:
C D Eb E F# G Ab Bb B C
Now, I don’t subscribe to the thinking that it is a nine note scale but rather it is two or more scales being interwoven, moving between one and the other much like how music works. If I play in C Major and add a G# (C D E F G G# A B) it doesn’t mean I am playing an eight note scale, but just that when the G# is sounding I am inferring that a change to the relative minor via the Harmonic minor scale is possible but not necessary, depending on the next notes that are played.
Likewise, if I add C# before another G note is played (G# A B C C# D E F) I am not playing a nine note scale but I am preparing to move via the A Harmonic Major scale. In the rare instances that more than seven notes occur at once, then there are a few options, the seven note scales having auxiliary notes added to them which still determines where the music is heading although there are more options available. The term post-functional harmony or whatever the term chosen to describe the Messiaen approach is, is basically the decision of opting for the choice of interrupting the direction that the altered notes lead to, like an interrupted cadence but with modes. If I play a G# in C Major followed by an D# and a F# it is not a ten note scale, but rather the decision to move from A Harmonic minor to E Harmonic minor (G G# A B C D D# E F F#) whether I choose to resolve to E minor by implying the F# is the 5th in a B7 chord or not, the point is to resolve or interrupt.
Back to Mode III, there are multiple combinations of scales that are compatible when combined to fit the Mode III formula of Messiaen, for example:
C Harmonic Major #4 = C D E F# G Ab B
E Hungarian minor = E F# G A# B C D#
B Neapolitan Major = B C D E F# G# A#
G Neapolitan minor = G Ab Bb C D Eb F#
There are many more options if one takes the b3 as a #2 for instance but you get the idea.
Now if I combine say B Neapolitan Major and E Hungarian minor in an ascending sequence I get: C D D# E F# G G# A# B = Messiaen mode III
What is happening as the scale rises is the D# signifies E Hungarian minor and when the G# is played it signifies B Neapolitan Major, and the play between the two scales gives an ethereal quality because the two scales are unresolved. If for example Eb and G# are played together then G Neapolitan minor is referenced momentarily allowing the options that this scale provides if the musician wants to head in that direction.
My preference to create the Mode III sound is the Hungarian minor on the relative minor degree and the Neapolitan Major on degree III of a Major scale. So in G Major I can combine:
E Hungarian minor = E F# G A# B C D# and B Neapolitan Major = B C D E F# G# A#
Combined they make Messiaen’s mode III, but I am not thinking in that way, I am using the Hungarian minor as the sound of a V – V to imply a change to the relative minor of E minor whilst also using the Neapolitan Major to imply the possible change to either B minor via the B Melodic minor scale (by raising the 2nd) or A minor via the A Melodic scale (by flattening the 7th) and in this way the music sounds ambiguous. Note that these are only possibilities or rather probabilities, depending on the next move but I am purposefully creating an ambiguity which gives the music an ethereal quality, being detached from its mooring, so to speak.
Unfortunately, Olivier Messiaen’s music is still under copyright and so is not so straightforward as just looking it up to study and with so many other projects on the go it will have to wait but if there is a reader who would like to loan me a score of his music then I would be willing to analyse it to see what his preferences for modal interchange are. Next time I’ll go through Mode IV. Thanks for reading.
My book explains how to understand music from a modal perspective and is available here: https://www.bedwellmusic.co.uk/general-7
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